Minnesota student remains in coma after long fall

Associated Press

September 1, 2014 - 6:25 PM

MILWAUKEE — A Minnesota State University student who fell from a Milwaukee parking ramp last month after a night of drinking remains in a coma, and heartbroken family members and friends are still trying to piece together what happened.

Giovanni Quiroz, 24, of North Mankato, Minnesota, was barhopping with friends Aug. 16 when he became separated from them. He didn't have his phone so his friends waited for 30 minutes and then went to another friend's place, figuring Quiroz would join them.

Instead they learned he'd fallen off a parking ramp about two blocks away, the Mankato Free Press reported (http://bit.ly/1B9buTv ).

The circumstances remain a mystery. His loved ones remain haunted by the unknown.

They don't understand how Quiroz ended up two blocks away, or why surveillance video shows him running to higher levels of the parking ramp. They also don't know how or why an unknown person has been using Quiroz's phone to upload video and photos to his Facebook page.

"I've never seen him be aggressive and no one else has either," said Marcy Koch, an elementary school counselor who has known the Quiroz family for years. "That's why I think there's questions about what happened."

Surveillance video suggests Quiroz fell from the ramp about 3 a.m. He was on the ground for nearly 30 minutes before someone found him and called an ambulance.

He has been hospitalized in Milwaukee with a traumatic brain injury and a broken hip.

About 20 minutes after the fall, Lucas Torres, one of the friends who'd been with Quiroz that night, said he got a call from someone saying he'd bought Quiroz's cellphone and would return it in exchange for cash. Torres added that when he asked a police officer to track the call so the caller could be questioned, the officer said there'd be no way to prove Quiroz hadn't sold the phone to someone.

Police raised the possibility that Quiroz had been trying to kill himself, but his family and friends insist that's not possible. They say there were no signs he was depressed, and he was only a semester away from college graduation.

Milwaukee police Lt. Mark Stanmeyer said there were no signs of foul play. The investigation will not be closed until officers are able to interview Quiroz, he added.

Stanmeyer said alcohol was an apparent factor in the fall. Testing to determine Quiroz's blood alcohol level is still pending.